ISLAMABAD: As more than 700,000 children were vaccinated against polio during a campaign launched in selective districts across the country in July after an interval of four months, another polio case was found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to an official of the National Institute of Health (NIH), the victim is a 56-month-old boy belonging to Peshawar Union Council of Sufaid Dheri.

“The child’s four limbs are paralysed and socio-economic status of the family is poor,” the official said.

According to data released by the polio programme, a total of 722,500 children were vaccinated against polio in the latest vaccination drive launched from July 20 to 28 in selected districts across the country.

This was the first polio vaccination campaign launched after a four-month interval because of outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.

700,000 vaccinated during campaign in July

Polio workers carried out door-to-door vaccination of children in South Waziristan, parts of Karachi, Quetta, Faisalabad and Attock.

The workers also helped raise awareness among the masses about Covid-19 preventive measures and distributed soaps and masks among them.

“We worked very hard to devise operational modalities to resume campaigns while keeping in mind the safety of people and polio workers. We carried out intense trainings of workers on maintaining a safe distance, using masks and sanitising their hands while carrying out their duties,” said Dr Rana Safdar, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre, Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has also planned to launch large-scale campaigns in selected parts of the country in August and September.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2020